Head coverings often obstruct side views. For example, a hood attached to a jacket will either not turn or not turn completely with a turn of the head. Thus, when a person turns his head to the left and attempts to look left, the hood remains in its original position, or near to its original position, and obstructs the view to the left. This problem is illustrated in FIG. 1. A hood 20 is attached to a jacket 22 at the neck portion 24 of the hood. This particular hood 20 is designed to prevent rain and wind from striking the face 28 of the user. Thus, the hood 20 includes a bill-like extension 26 that extends outwardly from the top of the hood to protect the forehead and face 28 of the user. In this view, the user's face 28 is facing the left and the user is attempting to look to the left. However, the hood 20 has remained in a substantially forward facing position. Thus, one eye of the user is completely covered and the other eye is partially covered which obstructs the left view of the user.
The problem is particularly acute in jackets and coats designed for sportsmen such as fisherman, hunters, campers, hikers, etc. Typically the hooded jackets for sportsmen are designed to provide maximum protection in extreme conditions. Thus, the hood needs to protect the user's face by wrapping around the side of the face and extending beyond the face from above. In addition, to be comfortable, the hood should provide spacing between the user's head and the hood so that at least some ventilation around the hood is possible. Otherwise, the hood will cause condensation on eye glasses and will retain moisture that eventually will wet the head of the user. A relatively loose fitting hood 20 is more comfortable in the rain, because a tight fitting hood causes the user to actually feel raindrops on his head and neck. Also, a loose fitting hood is necessary to accommodate other head coverings that the user may wish to wear, such as a toboggan.
All of these advantages of a large relatively loose fitting hood create a corresponding problem. A large loose fitting hood exacerbates the problem illustrated in FIG. 1 where a user turns his face 28 to one side and the hood 20 blocks the view. Also, a large relatively loose hood provides the needed ventilation but it allows the hood to be blown from the user's head or be moved to an undesirable position. These problems are addressed by the present invention.